Merry-go-round



Nov. 14, 1933.

A. B. ANTONSEN MERRY-GO-ROUND Filed June 16. 19 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 null -12 .1 $71 niHlnnHli 6m 2. M a w 4 m Q W IUD.

A), ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 1-4. 1 933 v 1,93s,040 w MEnRY-Go'-RoUivn I T Adolph B. Antonsen, ValleyfS tream, -V Application .Iune 16. 1932, S erial"No.-61-7,556

-o1ai'ii 1s:j(c j272-33) Thisinventionrelates to a merrY- Q-round and particularly ,one, to be operated, outr-of-doors byi. v I

' the housing 7.) The housing issuitably braced an"joccupantfsuchfas 1a child;v seated. thereon...

accordance jfwith my invention. I have found 7 it important; to provide "a" 'simplerirgged construction which willv withstand weathering and whichjcan be built and/sold atfl a small "cost. Furthermore since 'thefdevi'ce" is particularly su te to children; it is important thatit contain no 'driving 1'rnechar'iism' or other' parts in which Zhandsbrfeet can be caught and injured; 1

'ing

7 The principal object. ofthisinvention accord ingly' is td'provide such a device embodying the characteristics just i mentioned;,\ 1 I Theinvention accordingly comprises the novel apparatus and combinations thereof; specific embodimentsof which are described herein by way of example "only-and in accordance with the manner in. which I now prefer I to practice the ven n I 1 Further and more spe'ciflcobjects, features and advantages will clearly appear fromthe' detailed description given'below taken in connection-with the'accompanying drawings which form a part t of this "specification.

In the drawings: 7 I

Fig. 1 is a plan'view' of an apparatus embodying the invention; Fig.2 is a side elevation thereof Big. 3 is a crossesectional view onthe line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a fragmentarydetail view showa driving mechanism taken on the line "4-4 of Fig. 3-; Fig: 5 is a fragmentary :detail view showing the spring-held supportfor the friction- 'drive.; an d"Fig, 6'-is.fa' detail view'showing a sprihg-helddriye for thepedals', usedto' propel thefrotating platform of 'the'device.

"Referring now more particularly to these drawings. the numeral 1 designates arotatable platform provided with a series of seats ,2 spaced about the platform in'theusual manner. The

' platform is centrally supportedforrotation on a series 'of radially disposed legs or" spokes 3 (see Fig.3) boltedto a central hub 4. 1 A centrally upright post 5 isfmounted in the hub and proj'ects upwardly through a centralaperture in the.

platform 1. The platform issupported by a cir-' cular ball race 6 located in the upper surface of the hub 4. An elongated tubular housing 7 surrounds the upright 5, projecting through the aperture in the platform 1, to which it is secured by bolts passing through a flange at the base of the housing. 0n the base of the flange is the upper part of the circular ball race 6. Another ball race 7a is situated at the top ofthe support 5, being supported by a collar 8 thereon, the

lower half of the supportforthegballs being posie 7 3 tioned onthe collar, the upper half being held by by braces 9 attached atone end'thereto, the other end being attachedfto the platform '1.

At the outer extremity of thespokes 3 is a vwardly projecting metal band 13 on the edge of the platform 1..

In Figs. 3 and l is. shown one of the mechaf- V nisms for driving the friction -wheel 11 Thede-J scription of one" of these. mechanisms will 'suflice for all, and it is to be understood that Imay' employ morelor less than the number shown in Fig. 1.' "Mount 2 is provided with a' rotatable driving shaft 14, on'each extremityof which is a pedallfi mounted at the usual 180 angle. Mounted on this shaft 114'and'aboutcentrally'thereof;

is a driving belt pulley 16., .Coil springs 17 at-i tached to the opposite flat faces of the pulley and coiled about the shaft14 with'the outer end of thels'pringfree serve to attach the pulleyto the sh'aift. 14, when the pedalsare being rotated for wardly. I When ,th'eipedals rotate forwardly the spring '17' tends to] grip the shaft-tight. If a' child should acoidentally'come'incontact with a" freely rotating pedal, whilefthe merry goround was being driven'by others; such contact would tendto'rotate. thepedal in theopposite direction and under those circumstances the free end of the spring would uncoil and the pedal and its shaft- 14 would notjro'tate while the child remained in contact with thepedal,in spite of the rotation of the pulley lSQQ This isan additional safety'clevice which is; preferably used. If used the merry-gm roundcannot be backpedalled to stop, it. j order to stop the merry-go-r ound under these circumstances or even if back-pedalling is possible, where such a-device is not employed, I may provide a brake 17a acting on the hub 4 or elsewhere on the apparatus to arrest its motion.

Under the platform is mounted a driven shaft 18, which is aligned withthe driving shaft 14.'

.Onthe driving shaft is a driven belt pulley 19 aligned with pulley 16 and between the two passes a belt 20. The motion of the pulley 16 is transmitted to pulley 19. Mounted on this same shaft alongside of pulley 19 is a belt pulley 21 constituting a second driving pulley which drives through a belt 22. A second driving pulley 23 is mounted on friction-wheel shaft 24. Mounted on the friction-wheel shaft 24 alongside pulley 23 and driven thereby is the friction-wheel 11 As shown more clearly in Fig. 5, shaft 18 is supported by brackets 25 attached to the platform 1. The shaft 18 in turn supports a frame 26 in which the friction-wheel shaft 24 is mounted. This frame 26 is resiliently held by a coil-spring 2'7 wrapped around the shaft 18. The frictionwheel 11 being mounted on shaft 24 swings with the frame 26 under control of the spring 27. The

spring is arranged so that the friction-wheel 11 sary to adjust the positionof the moving plat form to the fixed track with. any great precision. as would be the case if gears or other fixed driv- 30 ing mechanism were employed. In my device the platform and track can be assembled without any particular precision with the assurance that the friction-drive will always contact properly i with the, track for rotating the platform since the spring 2'7 will keep the friction-wheel moved downwardly into proper contact with the track.

In case the platform or other parts become warped due to being left out in the weather, the

friction-drive will also compensate for this and continue to function properly. e

It will be seen that. the device described achieves the'objects mentioned. It is rugged and simple in construction. Most of the parts may be made of 'wood and, therefore, the device can be inexpensivelybuilt. I' prefer to make the device so that the platform is about one foot from" the ground so that in case young children use it and should fall off they would not be apt to be 1 seriously injured. The friction-drive mechanism has all of its parts out of reach of hands or feet except the belts which run down between the legs of the animals. These belts are. preferably of rubber and offer substantially no danger to even a small child. For some reasons it may be desirable to eliminate the upright flange 12 of the track 10 in order to make the drive mechanism more accessible for oiling and'repairs.

- dren since the platform is so close to the ground that a child would have difliculty in getting un-' rather than to injure it.

Even if this is eliminated, the device is still safe for chil- The operation of the device will be clear from the description given. Briefly one or several children seat themselves on the mounts provided with pedals to operate the device. Other smaller children may seat themselves on the mounts without pedals. The pedals are rotated by the feet and operate through the driving mechanism to rotate'the friction-wheel 11 which by contact with the track' rotates the platform.

While I have described my invention in great detail and with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, I do not desire to be limited to such details or forms since many changes and modifications may be made and the invention embodied in widely different forms without departing from the spirit and scope thereof in its broader aspects. Hence I- desire to cover all forms coming within the language or scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by 95 LettersjPatenj, is:

'1. In an occupant-operated merry-go-round in combination, a rotatable platform with seats thereon, a trackthereunder, a friction wheel on said track, a resiliently-held member attached to the platform having a portion free to oscillate between the platform and track, said wheel being supported on' the free portion of said member, an operating device for at .least one of said seats, and connections therewith for driving said wheel.

2.- In an occupant-operated merry-go-round in combination, a rotatable centrally supported platform with seats thereon, a track mounted below said platform, and an adjustable friction-drive provided with a' friction-wheel spring-held against said track for rotating the platform, including pedals to be operated from'one or more seats, a belt driven by each set of pedals, a second belt driven by the first belt, driving said friction-wheel.

3. An apparatusaccording to claim 2 in which the pedals are: connected to the first belt by a device driving the belt only in one direction.

4. In an occupant-operated merry-go-round in 129 combination, a centrally supported rotating platform with seats thereon, a circular track thereunder for the friction driving mechanism, a friction-drive for rotating, the platform associated with one or more of the seats, each friction-drive 5 including adriving shaft to be operated by pedals from the seat, a driving belt operated by said shaft, a rotatable driving shaft under the platform, a driven belt pulley thereon, a second driving pulley operated by said driven pulley and a i friction-wheel operated by said second driving pulley, said friction-wheel being mounted in a spring-heldirame so that the wheel is pressed downwardly against the circular track, where by uponrotating the pedals the platform is ro- 5 tated by friction of the wheel against the track.

ADOLPH B. ANTONSEN. 

